I was inspired by an article on RTW Heaven that suggests the strategy of relocating your faction to a different part of the map when you first start playing, so I gave it a shot with Pontus and I think its turning out rather nicely:
First I gathered all my forces and set sail for Crete (as suggested in the article) leaving our homeland to Armenian conquest. Once Crete was under my control I sailed for Syracuse, which was already under Scipii rule, so I quickly ousted them from the island. They thought they could retake Messana with their entire family, but that only led to their utter destruction once their leader was slaughtered. Once the Scipii were out of the picture, I easily took Lilybaeum from Carthage and then gathered my forces once more to invade Italy. I started from the bottom, dispatching the Brutii from Croton and Tarentum, then hammered directly to Rome where I took the city after two heroic victories against Rome's best. The Julii didn't take too kindly to my efforts and sent a few armies down to stop me. Well, as you can see on the map they didn't fare so well.
Now that I have full control of Italy, Sicily, and my outpost on Crete, I can strike anywhere in the world I feel like. In the future I will lead my armies back to the homeland and reclaim it in the name of the People of Pontus!
By the way I always play on VH/VH
